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Our Volunteers

Volunteers are vital to the running of the ACC and the ACC is fortunate to have some many wonderful volunteers, both full time residents and vacationers. From dog walking to cat washing, our dedicated volunteers make a huge impact on the quality of life of the animals here at the shelter. In addition, we have many volunteers who make all the fundraising events possible.

The ACC would not be able to function without these sustained efforts. The ACC truly appreciates each and every volunteer.

Below we have highlighted three of our volunteers, our goal is to update this page regularly highlighting different volunteers. Please check back regularly until you see your picture! We welcome the help, it’s fun and fulfilling.

Andrea Sullivan

Volunteer

Andi is a part time resident who spends 3 weeks on island and three weeks in the states. We met her when she stopped by our Adoption Clinic one Tuesday and fell in love with all the animals. She is amazing and wanted to do something to help. Andi is blind and learned how to make amazing pens and keychains that she makes from her home. She donates all the beautiful items she makes for us to sell and all the proceeds go the ACC.

Andi didn’t stop there, she wanted to do more. One Tuesday at our Adoption Clinic she met one of our senior dogs, Sweetie, and fell in love. She decided to foster her while she was on island for the 3 weeks and see how she did. Sweetie is old and has a bad leg and limps and cannot go on long walks. Andi fell in love with her as soon as she went home. Because she had 2 other dogs at her home in FL, she was not able to take her there, but she now keeps Sweetie with her the moment she arrives on St John until the moment she leaves. For the 3 weeks that she is gone, Andi sends her on vacation to Canines, Cats and Critters Boarding Facility where she loves it there. Since her time with Andi and all the love and attention, she has stopped limping and is extremely healthy.

But Andi still wanted to do more. She has joined our team of volunteers and reaches out to our donators and thanks them via personal calls and letters so our supporters know how much their donations mean to the animals. We are blessed to have such an amazing person as part of our team.

Missie Hensel

Volunteer

Missie started volunteering at the Animal Care Center back in October 2010. She happened to give a ride to Kimber one of our employees at the time, and Kimber invited her to walk some dogs.

Since that day, Missie has been a constant presence not only in the dogs lives, but also behind the scenes. She walks our dogs three nights per week and never misses a Sunday hike. She teamed up with another volunteer and gave our weekly adoption clinic a much needed facelift and worked the clinic for the first six months.

Her positive energy and love and devotion to the animals helped to make our adoption clinic “the place to be” on Tuesday afternoons. In addition to all the time she spends with the animals, she supports us through her store, Nest & Co. A portion of the purchase of some of her items that are animal related are donated to the ACC.

Not only does she spend time with our shelter animals, she adopts them too. She currently has Ruby and Buddy who she adopted from us, and she foster’s our senior dog Rex, who was not doing well with shelter life and needed a place to retire. We are so lucky to have Missie as part of our team.

Robin Berlin

Volunteer

Robin started volunteering for the animals back in the 90’s, long before there was ever a shelter. She and a group of volunteers would trap cats and have them fixed, and also rescue stray dogs where they were kept in someone’s yard.

In 2003 when a shelter was built and one staff member hired, she continued to volunteer and help clean kennels and walk dogs. We had just a few kennels back then, and many of our animals spent their time on our porch or in our outside play area. She spent all her available time walking the dogs and cleaning the kennels whenever she could. All the volunteers worked tirelessly to help these animals, and Robin gave so much of her time to make sure they were taken care of the best they could be.

Now, Robin, along with her father, Bernie, and dedicated supporter, Diana (who has been with us since the start), walk and take care of all the dogs every Monday night. In addition, Robin never misses a Sunday Hike and can usually be seen with one of her favorite dogs. Not only does she volunteer hands on with the animals, she is also our Bookkeeper and donates her time one night per week to take care of the accounts.

For over 15 years Robin has been volunteering. A truly outstanding and wonderful person whose love for all these animals has made such a difference.